[REAL-TIME CLOSED CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY U.S. CAPTIONING COMPANY] HE FOLLOWED IN HIS FATHER'S FOOTSTEPS AND BECAME THE LONGEST SERVING SHERIFF IN THE STATE. THIS EVENING, UNION COUNTY IS REMEMBERING SHERIFF JERRY WHITEHEAD. HE SPENT 28 YEARS LEADING THE LAW ENFORCEMENT IN RURAL UNION COUNTY AND NOW TRIBUTES ARE POURING IN, HONORING THE MEMORY OF SHERIFF JERRY WHITEHEAD. HE PASSED AWAY THIS AFTERNOON FROM CARDIAC FAILURE FOLLOWING A SHORT ILLNESS HE WAS 60 YEARS OLD AND SURVIVED BY HIS WIFE AND SIX CHILDREN. ASHLEY HARDING IS JOINING US LIVE FROM LAKE BUTLER WHERE THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE HELD A NEWS CONFERENCE LESS THAN AN HOUR AGO. SO MANY PEOPLE ARE GRIEF-STRICKEN OVER THIS LOSS. I WANT TO SHOW YOU THIS PICTURE THAT ST 3 BOTH THESE MEN HAD SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT SHERIFF WHITEHEAD. TODAY WE'RE HERE GRIEF-STRICKEN OVER THE UNEXPECTED DEATH OF SHERIFF JERRY WHITEHEAD, A CAREER LAWMAN WHO SERVED AS SHERIFF IN UNION COUNTY SINCE HIS ELECTION IN 1984. HE WAS THE DEAN OF THE SHERIFFS. AND THE STATE OF FLORIDA. AND WAS A MENTOR FOR NUMEROUS SHERIFFS IN THE STATE. THIS IS DEVASTATING. HE IS UNION COUNTY. HE LOVES THIS COUNTY AND KNEW THIS COUNTY AND THAT'S WHAT MADE HIM SO EFFECTIVE AS A TRULY PROFESSIONAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER. AND, AGAIN, SO MUCH BEING FELT HERE TONIGHT FOR SHERIFF JERRY WHITEHEAD AND HIS FAMILY. AGAIN, HE LEAVES BEHIND A WIFE AND SIX CHILDREN AND HIS FUNERAL ARRANGEMENTS ARE NOW UNDERWAY. WE'RE LIVE TONIGHT IN LAKE BUTLER, ASHLEY HARDING, CHANNEL 4, THE LOCAL STATION. SHERIFF WHITEHEAD'S DEATH WAS A SUDDEN DEATH. ANY DECISIONS MADE ABOUT WHO WILL RUN THE SHERIFF'S OFFICE NOW? YOU KNOW WHAT, TOM? IN JUST THE LAST 15 MINUTES, WE FOUND OUT THAT AT 7:00, HERE AT THE UNION COUNTY COURTHOUSE, JUST TO MY LEFT OVER HERE, MAJOR GARY SAY WILL BE SWORN IN AS THE SHERIFF AND WILL AUTOMATICALLY ASSUME THE ROLE AND DUTY AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF SHERIFF. ASHLEY HARDING REPORTING TO US LIVE FROM LAKE BUTLER. THE FLORIDA SHERIFFS ASSOCIATION RELEASED THIS STATEMENT ON SHERIFF WHITEHEAD'S PASSING. IT READS IN PART, QUOTE, "SHERIFF WHITEHEAD WAS A WELL-RESPECTED MAN AND A HUMBLE SHERIFF WHO BELIEVED A MAN WAS ONLY AS GOOD AS HIS WORD AND DEDICATED TO DOING THINGS THE RIGHT WAY." TODAY WE PRAY FOR HIS FAMILY THAT THEY MAY CELEBRATE HIS LIFE AND LEGACY AND WE SEND ALL OUR

UNION COUNTY, Fla. -

Union County Sheriff Gerald M. "Jerry" Whitehead died Wednesday at the age of 60, the Sheriff's Office said.

Whitehead was elected in 1984 and started serving Union County as sheriff in 1985. He was the longest-serving sheriff in the state of Florida.

Whitehead died about 2 p.m. after a brief illness. He was admitted Tuesday to North Florida Medical Center and died from cardiac failure, according to the Sheriff's Office.

Baker County Sheriff Joey Dobson, who was childhood friends with Whitehead, said he'd been having some health issues of late but was working through them.

"It's going to take us some days to get over the shock. It just happened so fast. No one really knew he was as sick as he was," Dobson said.

"Nobody can fill his shoes, I can do just do what I can do to keep going on with the Sheriff's Office," Seay said.

"Our prayers are with the entire Whitehead family, and we all mourn the loss of our sheriff," the Sheriff's Office said in a statement.

Whitehead leaves behind a wife and six children. Whitehead's father was sheriff of Union County for 30 years.

"Jerry was a friend to everyone. He went out of his way to help people. He was just like his dad," said Seay. "He was a friend to me and a brother to me. We have worked together for many years. Our hearts are heavy, and everyone in the Sheriff's Office and the whole entire county and state are numb."

Captain Brad Smith with Bradford County Sheriff's Office recalled a time when Whitehead single-handedly stopped a cross county chase.

"We couldn't get them stopped in Bradford County, but they said when they saw that big man in the red shirt, which was Sheriff Whitehead out there ready to stop them, they knew he meant business and they could read it on his face, they just pulled over and gave up. That's the kind of man he was," Smith said. "The state of Florida has lost a true gentleman, a true law enforcement officer, and nobody is going to be able to replace him."

"Sheriff Whitehead was a well-respected man and a humble sheriff who believed a man was only as good as his word, and who was dedicated to doing things the right way," Steve Casey, executive director of the Florida Sheriffs Association, said in a statement. "Today, we pray for his family that they may celebrate his life and his legacy, and we send our appreciation for all that the Whitehead family has given and sacrificed for the safety and welfare of our citizens."

Funeral arrangements will be released when available.

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